STATE OF THE NATION II

Nigeria used to have mayors & municipal governments. That's how the entire civilized world manages the affairs of cities.

Nigeria is poorly governed, both by design and in practice. Nigeria cannot be competently administered with its present constitution. I'm reminded of Detroit & its Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Detroit went bust,
municipal officials had to work around this problem.

If Detroit was in Nigeria - the governor (in Nigeria LGA officials don't have responsibilities), would immediately blame Abuja. US is better governed than Nigeria, not necessarily because it is less corrupt, but because govt is designed to be more responsive.If a city goes bust in US, city officials (not even state governors) are empowered to "think out of the box" & solve the problem.In contrast, Nigeria was designed for an all knowing benevolent dictator with unlimited oil revenue - who dispenses favors from Abuja.

New York State has a governor. New York City has a mayor. The mayor is always better known. He's not the governor's "subordinate". Independence in decision making and encouragement of healthy
competition among states is what makes the US a very competitive economy. In contrast, in Nigeria, only competition that matters is land mass + population (& rigged censuses) - which impact on FAAC
allocations.

There is an opportunity for governors to break out of the mold, pioneer aggressive IGR programs & shake off Abuja's dead hand.This phrase emerged from the USA - "states are the laboratories
for new ideas in govt".

States should write domestic policy.Sadly, in Nigeria we are still debating whether the Land Use Act should be repealed. So we aren't ready to unleash our innate potential. Von Hayek wrote about the "Road to Serfdom". I believe Nigeria is on the "Road to Implosion". An unworkable constitution & no vision.

Some Nigerian governors have made more irresponsible investment decisions than the then Detroit administration. The Nigerian electorate is not sophisticated enough to differentiate between the role of the federal, state & local governments.Devolution of powers & an end to the Petro-State will FORCE this "sophistication" on an "unsophisticated electorate".